For people who do not have a grinder....and others.

[too-picky]

Hi,

I've noticed a common theme in most of the homebrew pick threads: get a grinder or dremel then.... But I just completed a pick without using a single piece of motorized equipment.

Most people know about wood chisels, but how often do you come across a functional metal chisel? Hint, if the chisel end is rounded and the head mushroomed, then it isn't functional.

Of course, you do need files. A friend of mine talked me into spending a little extra money to get a quality Simunds Nucut Mill Bd file. Boy was that one of the best purchases I ever made. That thing, when new, would file nearly any metal. I have always taken especially good care of it--never let it rub against other files which would dull it, never work on dirty steel, never use it without cleaning the old crud out. Now it is old and dull and needs to be replaced. Even so, it works better than most all of the cheap ones when they are brand new. So get at least one high quality file and treat it well.

Next you need a decent vice that won't move around and will keep the metal in one place and a good hammer. (You know, the one you like to crush things with when they don't work properly....) (Also, safety glasses are always assumed when working with metal. The salt in your tears make metal flakes rust on contact and requires removal by a physician!)

Lastly, you'll need a good metal chisel. (Yes, sandpaper comes into play at the end, but this isn't about doing finish work.)

My pick is made out of the remains of a handsaw. In fact, I made one half diamond pick out of the same steel and left one of the teeth intact and just rounded the edges.

First, test the chisel and make sure it doesn't have any chips, isn't dull, and the head is not mushroomed. If not, dawn your PPE (personal protection equipment--safety glasses, etc.) and fix that first.

Next, clamp the steel in the vice after marking your cut line with soapstone or a sharpie, or what ever suits you. It should be clamped just above your mark line so that the stresses are filed away along with the line. The waste metal should always extend above the jaws as the metal above the vice will bend (I had one piece turn into a nearly perfect conical spiral).

You'll be using the chisel and vice to act like a pair of tin snips or a metal sheer. I come in at the edge of the metal approximately 45degrees and sheer horizontally but flush with the jaws of the vice. Now aim the chisel and give it smart square blows with the hammer. Don't try to obliterate it, just try to sheer the waste material away from that which is clamped into the jaws. After one or two blows, inspect and see if you need to adjust your angles, then continue to shear the waste material away from the jaws.

I have several chisels and for the picks, I used my smallest which is about the size of a pencil. I had to sharpen it, I used a stone, but it worked well.

After you have a real rough shape, lay it on a very flat surface--an anvil would be ideal--and hammer it flat, especially along the edges. This will minimize the burs and jagged edges. Now reclamp it and work it over with your files.

Once you have it roughed in with the files, check the other articles on how to shape them and finish them so that the do a proper job of picking.

Hope this helps.

[Violaetor]

Are there restrictions of the hardness of the metal you are working with? I'm not familiar with metal chisels, but do know that the metal I use destroy's aviation sheers...unfortunately.

[too-picky]

Whatever the hardness of a common crosscut handsaw is works quite well with this method. Of course, if you tried to shear 10 blades at once or the equivalent thickness, then you'd run into problems. Common sense would seem to prevail--if it doesn't cut well or fairly easy, then use thinner stock, softer metal, or a different method.

I'd never use this for hardened tool steel as it would be a battle against the tool steel in the chisel -vs- tool steel being cut and likely ruin both. But for those of use using hacksaw blades, saws, and similar readily available steel, then it seems to work quite well.